What is the most economical way to get something delivered? I'm selling my robotic vacuum cleaner and the buyer wants me to get it from the Gold Coast to Coffs Harbour. It weighs 5kg. Big retailers send things all the time but whenever I've tried to have something couriered, the quotes are ridiculous. Any suggestions?
Courier or Aust Post?
LXE3 on 04/04/2015 - 18:45
Comments
I've used e-go a bunch of times and they have been great.
My experience with e-go was not so great.
I have a small business that deals with amongst other things vintage computers, which are usually very large and clunky.
A customer who had purchased one lived in Brisbane, we're on the South Coast of NSW and chose e-go to do the shipment. This particular computer was about 50x50x70cm packed and weighed about 20kgs. Luckilly I had wrapped it in enough bubblewrap that it was water-tight.. this part gets important.
Booked our order and was picked up, made it to the destination depot where it sat for several days. My customer had to go to the actual depot to find out what was going on, only to find it outside where it had sat for the past few days, on its side (had A4 labels on all sides showing which way to place the box) covered in engine oil.
Apparently a parcel containing a used transmission was placed ontop and oil had leaked all over our parcel. All the customers details were still clearly visible as I had printed labels and stuck them on 3 sides of the parcel but for the courier it was placed in the 'too hard' basket and left outside. When my customer came to find out what the hell was going on they told him to go get it himself and did not want to have any part of it. Luckily it was wrapped up so much that none of the oil leaked into the parcel itself.
When I tried to open a claim with e-go regarding the issue they didn't want to have any part of it and even went on to say it was my fault.. Suffice to say the 'insurance' is not worth anything, and even though I paid to have it delivered to his door and he had to get it from the depot they refused to refund the final delivery fee.
Anyway.. now I use www.temando.com.au which lets me get the best rates for which I use 'Couriers Please' which have been sensational and super fast. A few weeks back we sent a 20kg Amplifier on standard delivery to Ipswich and it made it there the next day!
TL;DR - Sent 20kg vintage computer and was left at the depot covered in oil. e-go took no responsibility. Stay away! Now use temando.com.au in conjunction with couriers please.
Opposite experience to me, got something delivered from NSW to me in VIC straight to my house. Delivered overnight, stored up-right and was cheap.
Thanks Bonsaichop! Hey, I'm originally from Wollongong and I have my original Apple IIC…the monitor weighs a ton.
Thanks so much, this is supper cheap compared to Aust Post!
I thought those things were really 'smart' these days… can't you just charge it up, type the address into it, and send it on its way?
My brother gets 40% off list courier prices because he has an account compared to one off courier charges. Problem with couriers is if you aren't home they leave a note that you need to sign allowing them to leave without a person being home which causes delays and is a nuisance. Australia post leave a note and you can pickup from post office when it's convenient. When it gets to big things like bikes……. the bike shop gets the courier for $60 due to accounts, the same courier wanted $100 from me as a once off. Couriers are good for things that are a size or weight that Australia post isn't optimized for across the counter.
Try Greyhound - yes the bus mob - you might be pleasantly surprised.
They "do" freight and the customer will have to pick up at the local bus depot.
The other one to try is Couriers Please. Their main depot is at Molendinar and I find their rates and service to be decent. Avoid Australia Post like the plague.
Try Fastway? From my experience, they're:
1. Cheaper
2. Faster
3. Parcels are insured up to $1500 (or $1000, either one)
4. They pick up the parcel from your house, or if you want to save more, you can drop it off at their depot.